Phonological and Phonemic Awareness including Emergent Literacy (15%)
Phonics and Decoding(20%)
Vocabulary and Fluency(24%)
Comprehension of Literacy and Informational Text(24%)
Written Expression(17%)
100
Why is it important for teachers to focus on students' phonological awareness during emergent reading development?
A) Memorizing sight words is necessary to read quickly and efficiently.
B) Spelling correctly leads to success in other subjects like social studies and science.
C) Understanding how the smallest units in words function is necessary for spelling and reading development.
D) Being able to read fluently allows students to achieve on standardized reading exams.
C) Understanding how the smallest units in words function is necessary for spelling and reading development.
(Phonological awareness is essential in developing spelling and word recognition. The foundational skills in phonological awareness are necessary for students to acquire the phonics skills (spelling) necessary for reading.)
100
Which of the following common English letter combinations would be taught first according to systemic phonics instructional principle?
A) kn
B) ou
C) er
D) th
D. th
Using the table, notice consonant blends are usually taught before silent letters (Answer A), vowel combinations (Answer B), and R-controlled vowels (Answer C).
100
Students are analyzing the words fair and plain. Each student uses them in a sentence. Below are examples of one of the student's sentences. The teacher is helping students:
It wasn't fair that I didn't get to go to the fair.
She ate her plain sandwich as she sat in the grassy plain.
A) Identify and use common homonyms
B) Identify and use common roots
C) Identify and use commonly confused words
D) Identify synonyms for common words
A) Identify and use common homonyms
(In both examples, homonyms- words that sound alike or are spelled alike- are used.)
100
Students are reading the excerpt below:
When she was sixteen years old, she was elected class president. She would later use those skills when she was elected governor in 1988. During her time as governor, she helped to create jobs in the state. When she retired, she volunteered with local organizations.
What type of text structures are the students reading?
A) Cause and Effect
B) Problem and Solution
C) Compare and Contrast
D) Chronological
D) Chronological
This excerpt is in chronological order. It starts with the main character in high school. Then it moves to when she was governor. Finally, it shows her retirement. This is in sequential order in time; therefore, it is chronological order.
100
A teacher is showing students how to use a semicolon correctly. Which of the following sentences uses the punctuation correctly?
A) She was confused by her sister's anger; she had never seen her act this way before.
B) She was confused by her sister's anger; because she had never seen her act this way before.
C) She was confused by her sister's anger; and she had never seen her act this way before.
D) She was confused by her sister's anger; and had never seen her act this way before.
A) She was confused by her sister's anger; she had never seen her act this way before.
A semicolon is used to separate two independent clause. It acts like a period. The only answer choice that uses the semicolon correctly is choice A.
200
Which of the following strategies would be most helpful for students who are working on onset and rime skills?
A) Count the number of sounds in the word back.
B) Identify the beginning sound in the word back.C) Substitute the /b/ sound in back with a /t/ sound.
D) Segment the word back into two sounds /b/ and /ack/.
D) Segment the word back into two sounds /b/ and /ack/.
(Answer D is an example of onset and rime. The /b/ is the onset and /ack/ is the rime. All the other answer choices focus on phonemic awareness.)
200
A teacher is helping students use language structure and grammar to figure out difficult words in grade-level text. The students are using what cuing system?
A) Semantic
B) Syntactic
C) Graphophonic
D) Phonological
B) Syntactic
(The students are using language structure and grammar, which is syntactic. Semantic is meaning, graphophonic is sound-letter relationships, and phonological is not a cuing system.)
200
A teacher encourages second-grade English language learners to take a decodable passage home and read it 2 times each night for 5 nights. The primary purpose of this strategy would be to increase:
A) Comprehension
B) Phonics
C) Automaticity
D) Metacognition
C) Automaticity
(This is a repeated reading exercise. Repeated reading helps to increase automaticity and fluency.)
200
Students are using a timeline to organize events in a history passage. What benefit does the timeline provide?
A) It allows students to visualize events in the passage.
B) It allows students to compare and contrast events in the passage.
C) It allows students to organize ideas based on evidence in the passage.
D) It allows students to map elements in the passage.
A) It allows students to visualize events in the passage.
Timeline- Visualize events
Venn Diagram- Compare/Contrast
Outline- Organize ideas in the passage
Semantic map- Map elements in the passage based on meaning
200
Which of the following would be the main reason a teacher would encourage students to use a semantic map before they draft their writing?
A) To ensure they are only including important details that support their thesis.
B) To ensure they are citing information properly in-text.
C) To ensure they are organizing their ideas and connecting them to sources used.
D) To ensure they are using background knowledge in their writing.
C) To ensure they are organizing their ideas and connecting them to sources used.
A semantic map is a graphic organizer. Therefore, the teacher would use this to help students organize their ideas.
300
Asking students to listen to the word can and asking the students to add a /t/ sound to the word is most appropriate for students who have a:
A) Beginning level of phonemic awareness
B) Beginning level of phonics skills
C) Relatively high level of phonemic awareness
D) Relatively high level of phonics
C) Relatively high level of phonemic awareness
(Remember, manipulation of words is part of the complex stage of phonemic awareness. Therefore, the students must have a relatively high level of phonemic awareness to engage in this activity. Because the scenario is talking about sounds in words, the question is focused on phonemic awareness, not phonics. Therefore, we can eliminate answers B and D.)
300
Which of the following sets of letters would a teacher use when helping students with their diphthongs?
A) oi, ai, ei
B) kn, gn, gh
C) ee, ea, oo
D) ff, ll pp
A) oi, ai, ei
(Diphthongs are sounds formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves toward another. They can appear in the initial, middle, or final position in a word. Words like aisle, join and loud contain diphthongs.)
300
A fourth-grade health teacher wants students to read a news article about a new health study involving kids and sleep. The teacher knows the text will be complex for some students who struggle. Which of the following would be most effective to support these students?
A) Have struggling students take home extra reading for homework.
B) Have students use sustained silent reading in class.
C) Use a variety of leveled text and differentiate instruction based on needs.
D) Have the reading coach come in and teach the class.
C) Use a variety of leveled text and differentiate instruction based on needs.
(C has all the good word choices you should look for in an answer. What are they? Extra homework and SSR are usually not the correct options.)
300
A student understands vocabulary and is a fluent reader; however, the student has difficulty with comprehension. What is the most effective instructional approach the teacher can take to improve the student's comprehension?
A) Question generation
B) Timed reading
C) Repeated reading
D) Sight word memorization
A) Question generation
Comprehension involves higher-order, critical thinking. It also requires metacognition. Question generation is a higher-order skill that aids in comprehension. Answers B, C, and D all support fluency, not comprehension.
300
A teacher is looking over writing samples of her third-grade students to determine how students are applying their writing skills. Which of the following assessment types is this?
A) Norm-referenced assessment
B) Summative assessment
C) Performance-based assessments
D) Peer-review assessment
C) Performance-based assessments
When students write, they are participating in a performance-based assessment. They are performing a task. The teacher can look over their writing samples and determine how effectively students apply their writing skills.
400
An English learner is struggling to identify certain sounds in words. What would be the best approach to help the student develop phonemic awareness?
A) Determine if the student has phonemic awareness in the first language.
B) Have the student work with an English learner who is fluent in English.
C) Require the student to use English only when speaking.
D) Use pictures to help the student identify different words.
A) Determine if the student has phonemic awareness in the first language.
(The question is asking about phonemic awareness, which is skills focused on sounds only. Nurturing students' first language so the students can master the skills in their second language is very important for English learners.)
400
Which of the following would be most appropriate to strengthen automatic word recognition skills?
A) Memorize high frequency words.
B) Have students track letters with a finger as they read.
C) Write down difficult words over and over.
D) Use a dictionary for unfamiliar words.
A) Memorize high frequency words.
(Memorizing high frequency words is an effective way to increase automatic word recognition.)
400
Which type of vocabulary do students acquire first?
A) Listening
B) Speaking
C) Reading
D) Writing
A) Listening
(Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing)
400
If a student is reading with automaticity, the student is:
A) Reading through the text, only stopping at word he or she needs to decode
B) Reading with inflection and expression
C) Reading effortlessly through the text at >95% accuracy
D) Reading through the text using sight words
C) Reading effortlessly through the text at >95% accuracy
Automaticity means the student is automatically recognizing words and moving through the text effortlessly. Answer A indicates the student is decoding words, which is the opposite of automaticity. Answer B describes prosody not automaticity. Answer D is not related.
400
A sixth-grade teacher encourages students to support their claims in their persuasive essay on the school dress code policy. Which of the following would be the most effective question the teacher can ask students as they write?
A) How does the dress code policy affect students at school?
B) What reasons do you think the administration has for implementing the policy?
C) What would be a better policy since you are seeking a change?
D) What sources did you use to write this essay?
D) What sources did you use to write this essay?
When students support their claims, they must use evidence from other sources. This is an important skill in persuasive writing. None of the other questions require students to use evidence from text to support their writing.
500
A teacher is using picture cards to help students recognize words. Students see the picture below and say, "Sun!" What phase of word recognition are the students in?
A) Pre-alphabetic
B) Partial-alphabetic
C) Full-alphabetic
D) Consolidated -alphabetic
A) Pre-alphabetic
(The students are only seeing a picture. Therefore, they are in the pre-alphabetic stage. Partial, full, and consolidated phases all require the use of letter recognition. In this case, there is only a picture.)
500
A teacher asks students to think of and write down 5 words that contain the prefix in. Which of the following skills is the teacher reinforcing:
A) Greek and Latin roots
B) Structural analysis and morphology
C) Phonemic awareness and phonics
D) Vocabulary and homographs
B) Structural analysis and morphology
(Analyzing prefixes, suffixes and roots is a type of structural analysis associated with morphology.)
500
Which of the following would negatively impact a student's ability to quickly decode a word during a fluency read?
A) A lack of phonics skills
B) A lack of prosody
C) A lack of comprehension
D) A lack of semantics
A) A lack of phonics skills
(Decoding words requires students to use their phonics skills.)
500
Students in a 3rd grade class are learning the difference between opinion and fact. Which of the following activities would be most effective in helping students understand the difference.
A) Have a guest speaker come in and talk about bias in commercials.
B) Have students read about fact and opinion in their cooperative groups.
C) Display different advertisements in the front of the class and discuss why some use facts while others use opinion.
D) Have students complete a multiple-choice test on fact vs. opinion and then discuss their answers.
C) Display different advertisements in the front of the class and discuss why some use facts while others use opinion.
Answer C is the best answer because students are looking at actual advertisements which brings the activity into the real world. A guest speaker, in Answer A, is not effective because that is essentially a lecture on the subject. Multiple choice tests are usually not the correct answers on this exam, especially for young students.
500
Which of the following uses an appositive? Choose TWO:
A) Norma like to to teach science, reading, and math.
B) Her sister, Norma, was always getting into trouble.
C) Norma, a teacher, didn't like it when students misbehaved.
D) Norma could never sit still, and she was always into something.
E) Her sister was trying to tell her story, but no one would listen.
B) Her sister, Norma, was always getting into trouble.
C) Norma, a teacher, didn't like it when students misbehaved.
An appositive phrase is a noun phrase that identifies or renames another noun phrase directly before or after it.